The 19 Newest UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Every year, UNESCO meets to determine the next round of places that will be added to the organization's coveted list of World Heritage Sites. In order to qualify, a place or structure must have great cultural, historical, and/or natural significance—examples include Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and Machu Picchu in Peru. This year's committee named 19 new spots, including Göbekli Tepe in Turkey and Pimachiowin Aki in Canada, and also expanded the borders of Russia's previously recognized Central Sikhote-Alin site to include the Bikin River Valley. Each place is as beautiful and diverse as the next—get your passports ready.

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Naumburg Cathedral, Germany

This cathedral in Naumburg, central Germany, has been around since the eleventh century, and features both Romanesque and Gothic architecture. There's beautiful stained glass windows and soaring stone arches, but what really impressed UNESCO was the medieval art, including 12 life-sized statues of the cathedral's founders crafted by the mysterious "Naumburg Master."

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220

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains, South Africa

The Barberton Makhonjwa mountains in South Africa are old—we're talking pre-historic, survived-a-meteor-shower old. Forty percent of the area is home to volcanic and sedimentary rocks that formed over 3 billion years ago, according to UNESCO, and are still preserved today. Adventurous types head to the town of Barberton in the Mpumalanga province, bordering the nature reserve the mountains are in, for hiking and mountain-biking trips across the challenging terrain.

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320

Ivrea, Italy

Ivrea, a small town near Turin, was the epicenter of a technological revolution in the twentieth century, where manufacturer Olivetti started testing products including typewriters and computers. UNESCO recognized the town for its visionary industrial and architectural sectors—Olivetti is still headquartered there today—but even if you're not there for the history, Ivrea is worth a visit alone for its colorful buildings, juxtaposed against the Dora Baltea river.

Guelpa Foundation

420

Ancient City of Qalhat, Oman

Qalhat was a major port city from the eleventh to fifteenth century in eastern Oman, linking trade between places like India, China, and East Africa. Both Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta (a Moroccan scholar) visited Qalhat during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and though only a few remnants of the coastal city remain standing (like the Bib Maryam Mausoleum), you can still get an idea of how it once was.

MHC

520

The Border of Hedeby and the Danevirke, Germany

UNESCO's next pick is the border of Danevirke and Hedeby, a Viking-Era archeological site. The former was a defensive border constructed between Germany and Denmark, while the latter was a trading hub within those walls. The site is still preserved today—minus the vikings.

Alamy

620

Al-Ahsa Oasis, Saudi Arabia

In eastern Saudi Arabia, Al-Ahsa is the true definition of an oasis, and the world’s largest, too. The area encompasses 2.5 million date palms, a network of canals, verdant gardens, historic buildings and archeological sites—all in one spot along the Arabian Peninsula.

IPOGEA

720

Chiribiquete National Park, Colombia

This park, also known as “The Maloca of the Jaguar,” is Colombia's largest protected area, spanning 10,810 square miles and home to over 3,000 species of animals and plants—yes, that includes jaguars. Chiribiquete is particularly famous for its tepuis (sandstone plateaux) where over 75,000 paintings live on the rock walls, depicting various scenes and ceremonies across some 20,000 years.

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820

Caliphate City of Medina Azahara, Spain

Medina Azahara was built between 940 and 975 C.E. as the seat of the Caliphate of Córdoba (a state in what was formerly Islamic Iberia)—only to be attacked and left in ruins a few decades later. Re-discovered in the early twentieth century, some of the buildings and infrastructure remain standing, providing a glimpse of the long-vanished Western Islamic civilization of Al-Andalus. It's now open to tourists (complete with guided tours) and the closest major city is Seville—about an hour-and-a-half drive away.

Madinat al-Zahra Archaeological Site/CAMAZ

920

Chaîne des Puys, France

Like Barberton in South Africa, central France's Chaîne des Puys is a natural site, one of three among the 2018 additions. UNESCO chose the Limagne fault tectonic arena for its "illustration of continental breakup." In simple terms? What happens when the earth's crust cracks and rises with magma. Rich with extinct volcanoes and fault lines, this place is every geologist's dream.

Pierre Soissons

1020

The Sansa, South Korea

Built between the seventh and ninth centuries, these seven Buddhist mountain monasteries are sacred sites found scattered across the southern part of the Korean peninsula. Each are home to a madang (open courtyard), pavilion, lecture hall, Buddha Hall, and dormitory, and still function today. If you're an architecture or history buff, make a pitstop at one (or all seven) on your next trip.

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1120

Fanjingshan, China

The third natural site added to UNESCO's World Heritage List is Fanjingshan, a towering mountain in China's Guizhou Province that reaches 2,750 meters (9,022 feet) at its highest summit—there's three total. The metamorphic rock structure is known for its biodiversity, with over 2,000 types of plants to spot. Also native to Fanjingshan? The "Chinese Giant Salamander"—we suggest you look that one up.

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1220

Hidden Christian Sites, Japan

On Kyushu island in Japan's Nagasaki region, 10 villages, Hara castle, and a cathedral make up this "Hidden Christian" UNESCO site—all were built between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, when missionaries first arrived in the country. Christianity later became prohibited (hence "Hidden Christian") and even though the ban was lifted in 1873, less than one percent of Japan's current population is Catholic. If you visit Kyushu today, you'll find remnants of the religion as well as active volcanoes, hot springs, and impressive waterfalls.

Nagasaki Préfecture

1320

Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai, India

The nineteenth century saw the beginning of an architectural revolution in Mumbai, and the Oval Maidan—a public lawn frequented by cricket players in the southern part of the city—was the epicenter. Victorian Neo-Gothic buildings cropped up around the area in the late 1800s, followed by colorful Art Deco designs in the early 1900s. It's a beautiful backdrop against the field, where you can catch a cricket match while admiring the architecture.

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1420

Aasivissuit—Nipisat, Greenland

This remote site in Western Greenland is home to 4,200 years of human history. Both Paleo-Inuit and Inuit cultures have ties here—the region was their hunting ground, for both land and sea animals—and the landscape is truly something to behold, a mix of white-capped mountains and pockets of bright blue water.

Ólafur Rafnar Ólafsson

1520

Göbekli Tepe, Turkey

If you ever make it to the Germuş mountains in southeastern Turkey, you'll find remnants of a hunter-gatherer settlement that dates back to 9600 and 8200 B.C.E.—also known as a Pre-Pottery Neolithic age. Preserved stone carvings and ritual sites make it a fascinating insight into Mesopotamian culture, which is precisely why UNESCO added it to the list. Another fun fact: Göbekli Tepe may be the location of the world's oldest temple.

Göbekli Tepe Project

1620

Sassanid Archaeological Landscape, Iran

Sassanid Archeological Landscape spans eight sites in Iran's Fars Province: a mix of palaces, city plans, and fortified structures carved into the landscape. Built during the Sassanian Empire (224 to 658 CE), the addition to UNESCO's list celebrates the site's seamless blend of architecture and natural topography.

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1720

Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, Mexico

The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley in southeastern Mexico made it on to UNESCO's radar for several reasons: It features North America's oldest water management system (remnants of aqueducts and other agricultural tools) and has the "richest biodiversity" in the continent, thanks to the region's dry climate. Most importantly though, the valley is filled with forests of endangered cacti, and the protected area allows them to diversify and grow.

CHAC

1820

Pimachiowin Aki, Canada

Pimachiowin Aki isn't Canada's first World Heritage site overall, but it is the country's first "mixed" site, meaning it has both natural and cultural landmarks. Spanning Manitoba and Ontario, the area is the ancestral home of the indigenous Anishinaabe people, and four First Nations have ties to the site—Bloodvein River, Little Grand Rapids, Pauingassi and Poplar River. Together, they've been working with local governments to get UNESCO status for 16 years. Covered by forests, lakes, rivers, mountains, Pimachiowin Aki translates to "the land that gives life."

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1920

Thimlich Ohinga, Kenya

Kenya's Thimlich Ohinga site in the western Lake Victoria region is a sixteenth century settlement built with loose stone walls that were so painstakingly constructed they're still standing today. Once used both for protection and to keep livestock, it's hailed by UNESCO as a prime example of the first pastoral communities that settled here.

National Museums of Kenya

2020

Central Sikhote-Alin/Bikin River Valley, Russia

The Central Sikhote-Alin mountain range in Russia has been on the World Heritage list since 2001, and is home to several endangered species, including the Amur (Siberian) tiger. This year, the committee decided to include the Bikin River Valley in the north for further protection of these animals, increasing the site's size by roughly 2,867,581 acres. For reference, Yosemite National Park is only 761,266 acres—this new mega-site is almost four times as large.